Rule of Three
by dinabar
Summary: What happens when Nikki finds a 'suitable' boyfriend, and it's not Harry. No prizes for guessing where we'll end up though.
1. Chapter 1

**Don't own the characters, thanks to the BBC for letting me borrow them. Thanks to the amazing Charlotte, without your youtube video's this would not be possible. And thanks too, to x-MJ-x story At Last and Lydia Bower, both their works inspiring this story.**

**Rule of Three**

**Friday Night April 16th**

Harry sat staring at the screen, spinning a pen through his fingers. As long as he kept spinning the pen he couldn't press the send button. It was a great job. A brilliant opportunity. It was in Sydney. It would be sunny all year. He stopped spinning the pen and hovered over the mouse. Australia, would it look like he was running away?

Three and half months it had been. This latest 'boyfriend'. They had met at some conference in Switzerland , it was just before Christmas and it had been going on ever since. Three days or three dates was the most her usual brand of men got. Were there any unlucky enough only to make three hours? Harry shivered. Three days of hell for him, but he could dig his heels in and know that in sixty two hours it would all be done and he'd be there to make some joke about it all and everything would go back to normal.

A few had made it to three weeks, there had been that Ryan, now he was an objectionable piece of humanity. And more recently Anton, another lying monster. He hated them all with a passion. But he could bide his time and she always came back. It was the rule of three.

But this one. Henry. He'd broken the rule of three, it was three and a half months now and still going strong. Which brought Harry back to his computer screen and his job application in Australia. Harry had a strong stomach for enduring suffering and pain, he was a forensic pathologist after all but watching her fall in love, marry and raise children with someone else. No, not even the great Harry Cunningham could stomach that.

He checked back through his diary to confirm the dates again. Harry liked numbers, they didn't make emotional demands on you. You knew where you were with numbers and he had all sorts of details recorded in his diary in his own shorthand. He knew it would be in there as he'd picked her up from Heathrow when she returned. He'd known the minute he saw her she'd met someone. And when she'd blushed scarlet in response to his half arsed joke about 'holiday romances', he knew it was true.

Holiday romances..that was it! Henry spent half his working week in Switzerland and the rest based in London. Nikki often only ever saw him on a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. If you took that into account then the romance had only been going about two months. He calculated he had about another 9 weeks before the serious job hunting began. So he promptly logged out of his email without sending his application and picked up the beer he'd been promising himself as soon as he'd had the guts to finish.

His phone rang just as he had the can to his lips.

"Harry"

Harry groaned inwardly. It was Nikki's weekend on call and he'd been looking forward to a wonderfully boring evening, doing the things boring people did, like reading a crime novel and going to bed before midnight.

"I know you, and you only want me for my body," he purposely slurred into the phone.

"Harry are you drunk?" came Nikki's bad tempered response. " And no, I want you for your own body."

"humph" was all Harry could manage.

"Leo's already on his way in and you'd better not be drunk because with all of us we'll still have a body each, it's carnage here Harry. I need you!"

"There's three? I'm on my way, where are you?" Harry sighed replacing the full can on his way to grab his coat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Friday Night April 23rd, Week Minus 8**

The pub was noisy and crowded, there was music coming from one wall and a big screen showing some ghastly American sporting event on the other. Who had picked this place Harry wondered? Had he known, he would have stayed home or gone over to his mother's for dinner, even that couldn't be worse than this. But they were supposed to be celebrating.

The three musketeers had done it again. This time last week they were all in white plastic suits, collecting every last piece of dust and junk from that disgusting flat and sending those three bodies to the morgue. This week it was all neatly filed and signed off after what in Harry's opinion had looked initially like an interesting and juicy gang massacre, had turned into a prosaic murder suicide. Why was half the world getting depressed about being alone, never having children or leaving anything behind? And the rest seemingly getting depressed because they were never alone, the children were driving them crazy and then shooting them and yourself to make sure nothing got left behind. Harry had learned at a young age, that life was at times shit, he had hoped his opinion might change as he got older.

Finally he glimpsed the back of Nikki's head in a distant corner of the room. Perhaps the evening might not be so bad. With her part time boyfriend she was still available for the occasional Friday night team drinks sessions they had. He could see Nikki's arm draped across Leo's shoulder, she had obviously taken it literally when he'd told them to start without him. Then he watched open mouthed as she placed a big kiss on Leo's cheek. It was then he realised, it wasn't Leo, the man was too tall, the hair too dark. It was Henry. This must have been his choice of pub. Harry checked his watch, was it too late to catch dinner with his mother? But by then he had been spotted and Leo escorted him over to the group."Hi Harry, you made it!" Nikki beamed at him, happiness oozing from every pore. "You've met Henry haven't you?"

"Hello" he said non committally and grudgingly shook hands. He looked back at Nikki who was still smiling at him. At least she wasn't as drunk as he first thought.

"I'll get you a beer, anyone else want anything?" she called hot footing it to the bar.

"How's business?" Harry asked Henry through forced politeness.

"There are some promising market opportunities opening up in East Asia..." Henry continued but Harry was just nodding and smiling and acting as if he was listening. He really hated this man. He hated all of her boyfriends as a matter of course. Some he hated with an intensity that shocked him but they were usually the real jerks.

But this one. There was something ..likeable.. no that couldn't be the word, there was something 'suitable' about him. He was a medic turned pharmaceuticals man. He understood the work Nikki did. He could discuss dangerous diseases over dinner and not be put off his food. He treated Nikki with a respect he'd not seen from any of her previous flings. He was reasonably good looking. He was in short, in Harry's eyes, potential husband material and for that he got Harry's full weight of loathing.

Harry realised the conversation had stopped and muttered,

"Hmm, very interesting" hoping that was vague enough to cover the fact he'd not heard the question.

"I said, how come you and Nikki haven't ever got together? Don't you think she's beautiful?" Henry questioned again.

For a second Harry imagined he must be looking like a rabbit caught in full beam headlights when he pulled himself together and with stunning bravado and his best camp voice replied,

"But of course she's beautiful, she's divine, perfect in every way, everyone needs a gurrrrrlfriend," with that he scuttled towards Leo and sat down wondering where his pint had got to.

"He seems nice." Leo was obviously treading carefully. Janet however missed this and the withering look Leo gave her as she began,

"You know what Harry, Nikki's Henry looks a lot like you, not as tall of course, not as handsome, not quite your chiselled jaw line, he obviously doesn't work out as much as you do, and the sense of humour isn't quite as sharp, you even have similar names, it's funny you two look as if you could be related."

"Janet!" Leo chastised. Harry wondered if Janet would realise that the rebuke was not for the inappropriate comments about his body.

Finally Nikki arrived with his pint, it looked like she'd drunk at least the top inch of it.

"Thanks" she said and crossed back to Henry.

**Saturday April 24th. Week Minus 8**

Harry performed his usual Saturday morning post mortem when he woke up.

Hangover?...light to moderate

Bed?...empty

Work?...not this weekend

Run?... Definitely

Mood?...Better than yesterdays

Harry's fitness had improved immensely over the course of Nikki's latest relationship. Pounding the pavement was the best way of shutting out all those nagging thoughts and feelings. All he had to concentrate on was making the next hill, or catching up with another runner in the distance. He decided on one of his longer routes and rolled out the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Friday night, April 30th BNTN Week minus 7**

"So got plans for the weekend?" Harry asked Nikki politely as she packed up her laptop. It was his weekend on call and although all was quiet now, that didn't mean anything on a Friday night. He'd promised his mother he'd pop in if he wasn't knee deep in crime scenes.

"Oh, just take it easy I think, it's been a long week, I've still got some paperwork to finish on that hit and run." Nikki replied.

It hadn't been the answer he'd been wanting, so he fished a bit harder.

"And you're seeing the most suitable, unsuitable man on Sunday again?"

"Harry!, you shouldn't call him that!" Nikki retorted "Henry's really..."

"Nice?, Boring? Safe? Soulless?" Harry interjected, he was being miserable and he knew it, but it was his night on call.

"Attentive, was what I was going for." and then she added,

"Oh cheer up, you've got a face like a dead dog."

"I have not! This is my depressed pathologist on call face, surely you know the difference by now!"

They both laughed and shared an intimate smile, as Nikki picked up her bags and headed for the door. Just before she went through she turned and said "By the way, thanks for the chocolate Harry, it really hit the spot."

Harry smiled and turned his attention back to his desk. His diary was open and there at the top of the page in his coded script was BNTN.

It had all started not long after Nikki had stolen his desk and started to work with them. They had little rows right from the word go, but there was always a reason, some disagreement or difference of opinion between them and then suddenly out of the blue he found himself knee deep in a shouting match and he had no clue what it was about. He would always end up apologising figuring it must have been his fault or Nikki wouldn't have got so angry and life would go back to normal.

The third or fourth time it happened he remembered being called in to Leo's office. He got a tongue lashing from him too, but at least the door was shut and the assorted members of HM police and lab techs didn't get an earful as well. He remembered very clearly Leo saying to him,

"I thought the two of you were just beginning to work things out, we haven't had a fight like this in at least a month, would you please keep it professional out there.."

It hadn't mattered what the rest of Leo's speech was, he had hit the nail on the head, it had been at least a month. The investigative pathologist part of Harry began to piece some parts of the puzzle together.

He tried going back through his diary to see if he could remember when the last 'random fight', as he liked to call them, was. It hadn't taken long, and he had tentatively counted another 28 days forward in his diary and written BNTN. Be nice to Nikki today.

He knew he would have to be careful, anything obvious and Nikki would click what he was doing, and then he really would be for it. So he just made sure he was the one to get the coffee, and would slip a sugar in. Or another month bring in a couple of chocolate bars. He never offered them to her, he just left them on his desk and invariably one or both would disappear by the end of the day. If they were out at a crime scene he would make a point of stopping at a coffee shop or newsagents on the way back, claiming he had the munchies. They were simple things but the difference was startling. Now if they had a fight, he at least knew what it was about. The power of sugar was a wonderful thing.

As soon as he had enough evidence to determine the pattern properly he wrote BNTN through the rest of the diary. You can always rely on numbers he thought to himself with a smile.

**Saturday morning post mortem May 1st Week Minus 7**

.

Hangover?...none

Bed?...empty

Work?...still on call but had a full nights sleep

Run?...

He hadn't even thought of the answer to point 4 when his phone rang. Early morning jumper on the train tracks. 'Who would pick a Saturday to jump under a train? ' Harry wondered as he pulled on yesterday's clothes. Even with a white suit this was going to be messy and he'd probably end up throwing the clothes away, this way he didn't have to wash them either.

There was one small consolation nagging at the back of his mind. He might have to scrape a jumper of the train tracks but if his BNTN calculations were correct Henry would not be having sex this weekend either.

**I know you lovely people are out there, please review and I'll upload the next bit!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews, glad you're enjoying the ride.**

**Friday Night May 7th Week Minus 6**

"Harry aren't you finished with that report yet?" Nikki did not sound amused. Harry ignored her and started typing with just one finger.

"Harry! You can be bloody annoying when you try, please I really want to go home." Harry continued with his hunt and peck typing but made the hunting part take even longer.

"Well if you're going to make it last all night, Please can you print off the bit I need to sign so at least one of us can enjoy our evening."

"I'm enjoying myself immensely" Harry replied with a self satisfied smirk,

"and surely Dr. Alexander, you are not going to sign off on a document you have not even read, even if it does have to be with the courier before 8pm this evening."

"Look Harry, I have places to be, you have places to be, could you please hurry things along?"

"Yes" Harry nodded sagely "places to be."

"But you said you were having dinner with your mother this evening...oh" Nikki stopped.

"Surely it's not THAT bad."

Harry looked into her eyes and mimed holding a gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

"Oh come on Harry, I've met your mum, she's lovely" Nikki encouraged.

"What if I read whilst you type? Or you could dictate and I'll type." Nikki pleaded.

"Well, I suppose" he pouted, "but only because it's you."

Nikki pulled a stool up and sat right behind Harry with her head leaning over his shoulder. They were almost cheek to cheek. Harry began focusing all his attention on his typing to distract himself from the fact that he could feel Nikki's warm breath on his neck and the smell of her perfume was filling his nostrils.

"So what's wrong with dinner at your mothers?" Nikki asked.

"Well just maybe I don't want to spend my evening hearing about all her friend's grandchildren and how Rupert has passed his Grade 6 cello aged 9, and Felicity is the chess champion of Surrey and whoever else has just landed the biggest bonus the city ever handed out." Harry grumbled.

"Don't whine Harry, it's not attractive." Nikki said.

Harry rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.

"See it's already started! Even you're at it! Everyone gets to tell Harry what to do" He turned to look at her and suddenly became aware of her proximity.

"Come with me?" he pleaded, his eyes locked onto hers.

"Oh no, Harry I'm afraid this is one you have to face alone. Why does it bother you so much?" Nikki asked. They were still face to face and the whole of Harry's being was screaming to look away and fob her off with his usual self preserving lies. But instead he held her gaze and said.

"Maybe I was hoping that by now I would have that someone special in my life. Someone to share life with and to have that possibility of producing those longed for grandchildren, when the time was right." Harry tailed off.

He could see that Nikki was unnerved by his unusual frankness.

"It's just not enough to be the tall, dark handsome doctor turned investigative pathologist any longer!" he said flamboyantly and with a smile in his eyes. He turned back to the screen and quickly tapped out the final paragraph and hit print.

Nikki was sat stock still behind him, Harry hoped his jokey ending had smoothed over the tension but he couldn't tell without looking at her. He wiggled past her and made for the printer, as he returned he took a deep breath and said

"Things seem to be going pretty well with you and Henry, it's great to see you so happy!" None of this was actually a lie, he didn't say he was happy about the relationship, just about her happiness. He squeezed her hand and gave her a big smile. Nikki hesitated for a moment

"You are happy, aren't you?"

"I think so, I just don't know sometimes Harry. Everyone I've loved has left me, abandoned me, died, lied to me or I've forced them away. Sometimes I think I don't know how to be happy." she confessed.

This time it was Harry's turn to not to know how to react.

"Of course you do Nikki," He then leapt out of his seat and ran around the desk, when he got to 'Nikki's side' he stopped and said "Happiness is a blocked nose when autopsying a decomposing body." and continued running back round the desks and fell back into his seat. Nikki just stared open mouthed at him.

"O.K. It's my turn again." He jumped out of his seat again and ran round to the other side of the desks.

"Happiness is getting the correct change out of the vending machine!" he completed the circuit and fell dramatically into his chair causing Nikki to chuckle.

"Your turn." he said.

"Happiness is..?" Nikki started quietly

"No, no no! You have to run!"

"Run?"

"Yes, come on. You saw how it's done. You have to run." Harry encouraged.

Nikki started to walk to the other side of the desks.

"RUN!" shouted Harry

"Nikki began to run.

"Happiness is proving one of the smarmy police officers that their theory is all wrong!" she shouted and belted back to her seat. As soon as she sat, Harry was off.

"Happiness is not being woken in the middle of the night when you're on call."

This time Nikki needed no encouragement. She was running and laughing.

"Happiness is letting Leo, think you're hard at work when you're really internet shopping."

"Nikki!" Harry spluttered but it was his turn. It was lucky he had been exercising a lot lately as they were both laughing so hard at the game now it was hard to keep running.

"Happiness is finding the one piece of vital evidence." Harry laughed

"Happiness is solving the case together!" Nikki countered.

"Happiness is playing jokes on Charlie with the corpses!" Harry struggled out. They were both laughing so hard now it was becoming hard to understand what was being said.

"Happiness is being able to sign a copy of this report before the courier gets here!" Nikki was shouting and running and misjudged her timing to land in her chair. Harry reached out and caught her in his arms before she hit the floor. She was still laughing but stopped suddenly as she became aware of just how tightly he was holding her. Harry pulled her up to standing and became aware of the intensity with which she was looking at him.

"Have I got something on my face?" he asked and then they both jumped as the security door buzzed.

"Quick, that will be the courier" Harry said, thrusting a copy of the report into Nikki's hands to sign and running over to the door.

"I need to collect a report from Dr Cunningham" the speaker phone announced.

"Press the door and come on up," Harry replied and then ran back to his desk to search for the envelope. He had the package ready to go, just as the next security door buzzed. Harry opened the door to a very confused and worried looking courier.

"I thought this was supposed to be where they kept the dead bodies, lots of my mates won't pick up from here you know, but I heard laughing and banging.

"Laughing and banging?" repeated Harry in one of his silly serious voices. Nikki had her hand clasped over her mouth but it was doing little to stifle the noise of her giggling.

"Are pathologists not allowed to laugh?"

"Who?" asked the courier.

"Never mind, Here's the documents, I'll go and check on the dead bodies for you, if you think I should?"

"I would, if I were you mate." the courier said very seriously before disappearing back down the corridor.

As soon as the door shut Harry and Nikki exploded with laughter.

"Come on, I've got a dinner to get to, and surely you must have something better to do than hang about in the lab with me?"

"Hmm, Not 'til Sunday." Nikki said dejectedly "But I'm still not coming to your mothers! Night Harry and thanks."


	5. Chapter 5

**Saturday Morning May 8th Week Minus 6**

Harry's Saturday post mortem started more abruptly than normal. He quickly assessed the hangover as moderate and then immediately focused on the fact that he was not in his own bed. The bed was empty but...Then his sleep addled brain began to work. He had stayed over at his mothers! It was late when he arrived and after dinner and a few drinks, he had decided to crash there and go home in the morning. Now he thought about it he could hear the familiar sounds of the house and his mother moving around in the kitchen.

What was it that she had said to him last night? Even after the whiskies he felt sure he should remember. Oh yes, his mum had asked how Nikki was. He had given a non specific and purposely vague answer and his mother had immediately asked him if Nikki was seeing someone. He had muttered something like,

'Yes, but that he wasn't sure how serious things were' and then from his recalling he'd found himself under his mother's spotlight, as if being cross examined for some heinous crime. She had claimed that she knew instantly that he was lying, or that he had women trouble because his lisp was more pronounced. Apparently his mother had used this method for years. He wasn't even sure if he did have a lisp.

So he had told her the whole truth, about Nikki and Henry meeting at a conference in Switzerland, about how happy Nikki sometimes seemed and how sometimes she didn't. How long it had been going on, how compared to a lot of the men she had met, this one didn't seem too bad and how he had to divide his time between the two countries. His mother had sat and listened surprisingly calmly and when his tale had finished she had just two things to say.

"I hope you haven't missed your chance, darling, because it's plain to me that you care for that girl."

and secondly

"are you really sure about the overseas job? Because to me, he sounds married."

The recollection made Harry feel as sick as he had the night before when his mother had first said it. If his mother was right, he was sick with worry for Nikki and what this would do to her, sick with anticipation of her finding out. Sick with concern for his friend, knowing he couldn't be the one to tell her and sick with fear that he might not have missed his chance with her after all. He threw on yesterday's clothes and headed for the kitchen in search of coffee.

"Hello darling, did you sleep well?" his mother asked.

"Hm, er, yes, thanks," he replied worrying whether he was lisping again. Did it really get worse when he was lying? Surely if it did Nikki would have figured it out too? He ran his fingers through his unruly and unbrushed hair causing his mother to laugh.

"I'm glad you don't have to go straight to the office Harry, you look like a scarecrow!"

"Yes, thanks Mum, I love you too." Harry mumbled, fumbling with the coffee machine.

"Oh, Harry, you know I don't really like to interfere but I found this, it was my mother's and she had wanted it passed on to her granddaughter, but well, there isn't, wasn't well you're not, anyway..I hope you're not too late." and after possibly the most random speech his mother had ever given to him, pressed a small box into his hand and then hurriedly left the kitchen, shouting on her way out,

"I'm meeting Kitty in town, must dash, just shut the door behind you." and with that she was gone.

Harry slowly looked at the red box, opened it gently to reveal an antique gold ring set with three large diamonds diagonally across the band, with a leaf like flourish of gold around the edges to create a perfect oval. No wonder his mum had disappeared so quickly. She knew he would be horrified or mortified. How dare she think she could manipulate him? Was she that desperate for grandchildren? He thought about leaving the ring on the kitchen table but there was no point in making her angry too. He stood staring at the ring until the hissing of the coffee machine broke his reverie. Could Henry be married? Poor Nikki. He slipped the ring into his pocket and decided it was time to spend some time with his computer.


	6. Chapter 6

**Friday May 14th Week Minus 5**

TGIF thought Harry, it had been a long week. He'd felt off balance all week as if the see saw of his life was rocking too high, and too fast. Last Friday he had been running round the lab, with his best friend, playing the silliest game and laughing from the depths of his stomach, really enjoying himself and having fun for the first time in ages. And then suddenly a remark from his mother causes his side of the see saw to come crashing down.

He hadn't been able to find out much more specific information about Henry, the company website did list his title as European Marketing Director. They did have their head office in Switzerland, but it wasn't going to post his weekly whereabouts. He knew Nikki had been to stay with him at a flat in the Barbican, but he wasn't listed on any electoral roll in that area. So he could have another house somewhere, but without a location he couldn't check.

Nikki was a ball of excitement all week as Henry had arranged to spend the whole weekend with her. She was a bit disappointed when her suggestion of going away, was knocked back by him, but he claimed he was constantly travelling and all he wanted to do was to be with her. Harry had to pinch himself to stop the waves of nausea coursing through his veins as he'd listened to Nikki share this information and managed to curb his initial sarcastic remark to something at least neutral. But it wouldn't have mattered Nikki was too wrapped up in her own world to notice.

He had not spoken to his mother. This was not unusual. He just wished he knew what her motive was for giving him the ring. And why now? It seemed rather cruel to present your son with what could only be described as an engagement ring, just hours after he had confided that the girl he was interested in was in a serious relationship with somebody else. He had concluded a while back that he would never really understand his mother and this just cemented that thought.

"Everything all right Harry?" Leo's voice called out from his office.

"Er yes, just getting ready to go home." Harry called back.

"Looks like you need to!" Leo replied and he could hear the smile in the man's words.

It was then that Harry realised that during this whole internal conversation he had been stood up and staring at Nikki's empty chair. Leo must think he had lost his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

**Saturday Morning May 15th Week Minus 5**

There was something disturbing Harry's Saturday post mortem, no hangover, empty bed, no work but what was that incessant noise? Finally realising it was the phone he reached over and picked it up.

"..lo," he croaked.

"Harry?" came a familiar voice.

"Harry, I need your help!"

"Nikki?" Harry was fully awake now.

"Where are you? What's happened? Is Henry there with you?" For a moment he had a brief vision of Nikki sitting over Henry's bloodied body, meat cleaver in hand obviously having discovered the truth about Henry's marital status, and not reacted too well.

"I'm at home Harry, Henry had some work emergency and left early.." Nikki's conversation suddenly stopped and is sounded like the phone had been dropped.

"Nikki?" Harry was getting worried now the concern showing in his voice.

"Nikki can you hear me?"

When Nikki came back on the phone her voice was weak and breathless,

"Harry, I'm sick. I need to get to the out of hours surgery but I can't sit up, I'm dizzy and sick, just can't face the bus, or a taxi. Harry?"

"I'll be there as quick as I can," he replied already pulling clothes out of his drawer.

"You're sure you just didn't drink too much?" she did sound genuinely ill, but he thought he ought to ask.

"No, didn't drink, yesterday, I've gotta..."

The phone disconnected and Harry hoped she'd make it to the bathroom in time.

It was a few hours later, when Harry finally saw some colour return to Nikki's cheeks. He'd made her sit with a bucket on the journey to and from the surgery. He really didn't want to have to have his car valeted. He'd taken her home and helped her back into bed and then taken her spare key, so he could go and collect her antibiotics and get back without waking her.

An acute middle ear infection had left her totally disorientated and dizzy, but at least she had stopped vomiting. Harry couldn't help but wonder as he stood in the queue at the pharmacy, what kind of emergency a marketing director could face at 6am on a Saturday, but knew better than to take it up with Nikki. He had made that mistake with many of her previous men, the more unsuitable he pointed them out to be, the more she seemed to dig her heels in and stick with them, to spite him maybe?

She was sleeping when he got back, but wanting to get the antibiotics into her system as quickly as possible decided to wake her. He sat on the edge of her bed and held her hand.

"Time to wake up, sleeping beauty" he whispered "I've got your medicine."

Nikki stirred herself enough to sit up with Harry's help and take and swallow the pills offered but not to fully wake up. As he laid her back on the pillow, she gripped his hand tightly.

"Please stay with me!" she pleaded.

"Of course, I'll stay" he said reassuringly. "I might go for a quick run, but I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

Harry had learned early on in his job, that having a spare set of clothes or two in the car and in the lab and some shoes were as vital as his forensic kit. So he had no trouble finding some trainers and some shorts. It was clear day and perfect for running. He didn't want to go far, but still returned hot and sweaty, so grabbed a quick shower. It hadn't occurred to him until he was in the shower with the water running, with the smell of her shower gel all around him, that the run had been a particularly stupid idea. He dressed and dried quickly but couldn't quite rid himself of that scent. Her scent. It was surrounding him, and it was making it very difficult to keep his emotions in check. He busied himself making some coffee and then went to see if Nikki was still sleeping.

Later in the afternoon when it was time for the next set of medicine, Nikki had felt well enough to have a drink and a piece of toast. They sat on the sofa and watched stupid Saturday TV and old films until Nikki had fallen asleep again. He lifted her carefully and carried her back to bed. This time as he laid her down she clung onto his neck and pulled his face close to hers.

"Thank you, for everything." she said and without any warning started to kiss him.

Harry's brain started to swim, he was so stunned he didn't even reciprocate, and then as soon as he did panicked and pulled away. She must have confused him with Henry, he told himself.

"You're the best Harry, you know that don't you." she slurred in her sleep filled voice.

'Harry,' she had said 'Harry!' he thought to himself, stumbling backwards out of her bedroom door. No, he must have misheard, she must have meant Henry. His finger unconsciously touching his lips as if to solidify the feel of her mouth on his.

First spending the afternoon surrounded by the smell of her shower gel and now a kiss? Harry left the antibiotics on the kitchen counter, grabbed his stuff and hurried home. He had a feeling that another rather colder shower would be needed when he got there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Glad you're all enjoying this, thanks for the feedback. (I love feedback by the way). Here's the next little bit, have fun and let me know! : )**

**Friday May 21st Week Minus 4**

Harry sat at the back of the pub waiting for Leo to return with the drinks. He couldn't remember the last time it had just been the two of them. Certainly not since things with Janet had got serious. It was the way Leo had asked him, no told him even, that Friday night, it would be the two of them, out together. There wasn't to be an argument about it and it was clear that Leo wanted some answers. There were a lot of things that might pass Leo by, or perhaps he chose to ignore. But this week it was clear that his close knit team was anything but 'close' or 'knit.'

Harry thought back to that application he'd been tempted with over a month ago. He could have been revelling in the prospect of a new job and a new start right now, instead of having the worst fortnight since Leo was on a ventilator. Even by his generous time doubling there was only 4 weeks to go until Nikki was lost to him forever. He shuddered, he'd had the misfortune to run into Henry a lot this week. So much for his mother thinking Henry was married and if anyone should know, she should, he thought bitterly.

Leo had silently placed Harry's pint in front of him, Harry picked it up and took a long drink. Leo's eyes didn't leave him for a second.

"Come on," he said "don't make this any harder than it is."

"You don't want to know." Harry countered.

"I can't not know Harry, if you two can't pull together, I'll have to make some serious changes to the lab and Nikki was only well enough to come back to work on Thursday." Leo was sounding flustered but serious so Harry had no choice but to fill in the details.

"You know Nikki called me last weekend."

"When she was ill, and she needed to get to the doctors." Leo interrupted.

The piercing stare Leo received soon silenced him and he decided he'd better let Harry tell this story his own way.

"I spent all Saturday looking after her, I took her spare key, so as not to wake her when I had to go out. I kept the key so I could check in on her on Sunday. Her waste of space boyfriend had some massive emergency on a Saturday morning." Harry's voice was cynical.

"Nikki?" prompted Leo.

"She looked dreadful Leo, you know how she never admits she's ill, but this time..." he shuddered.

"So I went round on Sunday morning, let myself in, I could hear her"...Harry couldn't bring himself to describe to Leo what he had heard and just continued, "so I realised she was not alone and let myself out again."

"Ah," said Leo sagely.

But, I still don't understand?" Leo said. "Surely this isn't all because you didn't get to play Florence Nightingale. Nikki's been with Henry for months now, I thought you were O.K. with it. How did she even know you'd been round?"

"I don't think she did. I'd bought her some flowers but I just left them on the table on the way out." Harry mumbled.

He'd tried unsuccessfully for a week to get the recollection of the noises from Nikki's bedroom out of his mind. He knew she was with Henry, but it was less than 12 hours previously that she had been kissing him, Harry in that room. He kept telling himself that she was ill, and confused and mistaken and she probably didn't even remember doing it, but she had deliberately said his name. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. How much was he going to have to tell Leo, to get him off his back?

But Leo was already beginning to fill in some of the blanks and asked,

"So my making you take those reports round for her to sign on Tuesday, didn't help much?"

"No" Harry replied. With no trace of his trademark wisecracks,

"Henry was there that day too, that's when he asked me if I knew Nikki's ring size."

"Oh." it was all Leo needed to say.

**Saturday morning May 22nd Week Minus 4**

Hangover? - apocalyptic

Bed? – empty

Work? – never again

Run? As far as the bathroom

Mood? Rock bottom


	9. Chapter 9

**Friday morning May 28th Week Minus 3 BNTN**

"What's that terrible smell?" Nikki asked.

"Oh, and good morning to you too" Harry replied.

"No, really what is that smell?" she said looking round searchingly.

"Well, it could be Mrs. Johnson's appendix, that I'm using as a paper weight, or your over priced Latte that I stopped off for on the way?"

Harry couldn't help but feel a bit miffed, her favourite coffee shop was not on his route to work and he'd left early to accommodate the detour, but his diary said BNTN and he knew better than to turn this into a fight.

"Have you got a new phone?" he asked hoping to change the subject.

"No, it's Henry's he forgot it, he needs me to courier it to him." Nikki replied.

"What? To Switzerland? Won't he be back before it arrives?" Harry asked incredulously.

"No, he's phoned three times already this morning to say he's at the London office, and not to touch it. He's a bit protective about it really."

"Ooh, do you think it's got all the names and addresses of all his other girls on it, or maybe the latest million dollar pharmaceutical break through, we could buy shares and be rich?" Harry asked eyes glinting, willing her to play along with him.

"I don't know," she said flatly. "It's password protected anyway." And with that she lifted her laptop lid and Harry understood the conversation to be over.

He hadn't mentioned their Saturday night kiss, and neither had she. Over the last few days they had almost slipped back into their old ways. But only because every time Harry looked up he saw Leo glaring at him. It was one thing for him to choose to leave himself, but he couldn't bare it, if Leo decided to split them up somehow.

"I need to run this by Leo." Harry said, waving a folder in front of her.

"Do you need me?" Nikki asked.

"Always," he replied, he'd tried for his jokey voice but it hadn't quite worked.

"But, I wasn't involved in the Johnson case.." and then it dawned on her that it was a joke.

"Sorry Harry, bit slow today, bit of a headache."

Harry went into Leo's office and sat down. He managed to position himself so that he could still see Nikki's back. There was something up and until he knew what it was, he wanted her where he could see her.

Half an hour in to the meeting, the quietness of the office was broken by the noise of a crowd chanting "Wayne Rooney, Wayne Rooney, he goes by the name of Wayne Rooney."

"What on earth?" asked Leo.

Harry looked from his vantage point and saw Nikki pick up Henry's phone and the awful noise stopped.

"Henry left his phone at Nikki's," Harry stated.

"Oh," Leo replied. "It's not going to ring often is it? Can she turn it down?" he sounded quite alarmed.

"She's got to courier it back to him." Harry added just looking across the room once more.

Immediately he could see that her posture had changed, this was obviously not Henry on the phone.

It only seemed a few minutes later that the Rooney chant began again. This time Harry noted the conversation went on for longer and he could see Nikki sitting bolt upright, and the discussion getting particularly heated. It was Nikki who hung up, only to have the phone ring again. The noise of the ridiculous ring tone filling the office made it impossible for Nikki not to press the connect button. This time he saw her write something down and then drop the phone onto the desk. She wasn't moving, she was just staring at the phone. It bleeped it's little email bleep and Nikki began to type something in. She had obviously been given the phone's password and now all Harry could see was her holding the phone in her hand and staring.

When a full five minutes had passed and Nikki still hadn't moved. Harry made his excuses to Leo and walked back to the desk. He had found her once before in the office by herself, crying, and knew it was best to give her a bit of space rather than pull her into his arms, as every fibre in his being wanted to do. So he sat down opposite her and reached out to take the phone out of her hands, and to look at the screen.

There were only a few, but there were enough. Photo's of Henry's wedding day, photo's of Henry, his wife and daughter somewhere sunny and obviously recent, and there at the end a picture of his daughter winning some horse riding trophy or other. She was standing arm in arm with her mum and dad, holding a trophy and rosette in front of the sponsors sign, proudly displaying the date as...May 15th, 2010.

The Saturday before last.

"Oh, Nikki, I am so sorry." Harry said. He couldn't reach her hand across the table and he couldn't quite make out what emotion she was currently experiencing. Shock he guessed. She continued to stare straight into the desk, her body trembling but almost imperceptibly.

It was at that moment the courier arrived. Harry was glad it wasn't the one who thought the bodies in the morgue had come back to life. If he took a close look at Nikki now, white as a sheet, in full rigor sat at her desk, he might never come back either. He chucked the phone into the envelope and filled in the business address. He then pulled a post it note off the pad and simply wrote.

"Don't ever try to see her ever again." and stuffed it in with the phone.

With the phone gone it seemed as if Nikki had started to breathe again and so Harry thought it wise to get her out of the office and somewhere slightly more private before the inevitable shit storm began.

He sat her down on the bench in the locker room and then thought he'd better tell Leo where they were. He expected to find her crying quietly when he returned and so was ill prepared for the onslaught of words and the pair of shoes that nearly hit him as he came back through the door.

"Everyone," Nikki screamed.

"Everyone I've loved has lied to me, left me, abandoned me or died and left me, everyone! The one time I finally thought I had someone worthwhile in my life and he turns out to be the biggest cheat and liar of them all. I hate him. How could he pretend. How could he lie?" Nikki thumped one of the lockers with her fist and then continued with the tirade.

"Why do I even bother with men, they've all been useless, starting with my father and every one in between, they just use me and move on."

"Come on Nikki," Harry tried. "It's not entirely true. That old school teacher of yours, he helped you, you said so yourself."

"And he only needed me to boost his school's results in the league tables!" she spat.

There was no pacifying her. She thumped the locker again, harder this time and shouted,

"Why do they all lie?" As she lifted her hand for the third strike on the locker Harry quickly grabbed it from behind.

"Let me go!" she screamed wildly. Twisting and writhing to be free of his grasp.

"I said let me go!" she repeated. Harry had let her swivel her wrist in his hand and held it and her up against the locker.

"I am really really sorry Nikki." Harry said and that was enough to let the tears begin. She fell into his embrace and sobbed like a child.

**(Consider this dedicated to you, if you too hated Henry!)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Saturday Morning May 29th Week minus 3**

Hangover? None

Bed? Empty

Work? Yes, he'd volunteered to do Nikki's on call weekend

Run? Not a chance (but he noted with satisfaction the sound of heavy rain against the window)

Mood? Worried but veering towards positive.

Three weeks to go according to Harry's master mathematics, it had been cutting it fine. His mother was right. Henry was married. Why had he asked him about ring sizes only last week? Maybe just to gauge his reaction? Poor Nikki.

He had thought at one point he would spend the whole afternoon shut in the locker room with her, but when her crying finally subsided he'd managed to make her laugh by using his most serious doctor voice. The one he used when delivering bad news to grieving families and as gravely as he could said.

"Well, I'm very sorry Dr. Alexander but I'm afraid I'm going to have to bill you for this shirt." All the while pretending to ring out the water. It had had the desired effect and she had given him a half smile and a little laugh.

"What would I do without you Harry?" she had asked staring straight into his eyes.

"You'd probably get an awful lot more work done, he replied quickly, "but then there wouldn't be anyone to run about in hospital basements looking for your unconscious body. So maybe we're even."

He could tell she wasn't listening to his speech. Her eyes had a far away look, as if trying to recall a fleeting dream and at once Harry realised that she was remembering their kiss.

"Come on, I'll take you home." he said before that discussion could begin.

He would have to be very careful over the next couple of weeks. Whenever Nikki had a boyfriend he always felt able to stretch the usual personal space boundaries between them. And to be fair they were stretched well beyond most colleagues usual limits at the best of times. Just having a boyfriend in the picture, meant his action couldn't possibly be construed as a come on, so he could do what he liked. Backing off again would be difficult after all this time, especially if she was going to spend hours crying on his shoulder.

But the time for wondering about the future would have to wait. His phone was ringing and it was inevitably time to go to work. She would owe him for this extra on call weekend..


	11. Chapter 11

**Friday June 4th Week Minus -2**

Harry flicked through his diary. His count down was still counting, but there was definitely nothing to count. Henry hadn't tried to contact Nikki directly at all, well as far as Harry knew. He had called the lab but Harry had picked up and hadn't given him the chance to say his piece before making it clear that he was persona non grata and put the phone down on him.

Nikki had been a mess. He'd seen her come through hospitalizations, abductions, hostage situations and a number of other broken relationships sometimes without breaking stride. But this one had pole-axed her completely. He had tried to keep her company after work a couple of evenings, but she had just stared at any film he had chosen for her and then excused herself and gone to bed at nine.

At work she didn't seem to be able to focus her attention for very long. And her usual trademark tidiness and precision in her work had totally disappeared. She'd made Charlie finish up the stitching on one of the post mortems, claiming she needed the toilet and couldn't wait. Harry had been surreptitiously checking her reports before they got handed on to Leo or the police. Usually she would have gone ballistic if she had any clue what he was up to, but she was so detached she hadn't even noticed. She was a disaster waiting to happen and it hadn't escaped Leo's notice either.

"What's up with Nikki?" he'd asked Harry, after calling him into his office earlier that day.

"You know what's up with Nikki." Harry had replied.

"You haven't upset her have you?" Leo probed Harry further.

"Me? Leo what are you talking about?" Harry was incredulous.

"I've never seen her like this," Leo admitted. "There must be something else...Find out Harry and fix it will you?" and with that Harry was dismissed.

**Saturday Morning June 5th Week -2**

Hangover? None

Bed? Empty

Work? Yes, it was his weekend on call, no chance of swapping days with Nikki

Run? Possible

Mood? Worried and overworked.

There was no point waiting to be called into work. His paperwork was way behind. He'd spent so long covering Nikki's back, his own stack of paperwork was piling up in the in tray.

He took a break at midday, thankful not to have been called out to a scene. What made Leo so convinced that there was something else bothering Nikki? Harry wondered. And how did he expect him to find out what it was and fix it. It wasn't as if he could just ask her. Their most intimate confessions always started, 'do you think I'm... naïve, violent, cynical...' and then the other got to say their bit. It just didn't work for them the other way round. If he were to ask her outright if she were depressed, she would shut down entirely and probably never speak to him again.

He distractedly flipped the pages of his diary, 'the truth is out there' (he smiled to himself recalling some of the sillier X files episodes) 'you just have to know where to look.'

**(Now I know you are all brillliant out there, you too can solve this puzzle, the clues are there lovely people...let me know)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi lovely people, sorry it's been so long. You've all said such nice things, I'm having kittens about the ending and rewriting and rewriting, I hope you'll like it. Anyway in the mean time here's a bit more, and you are all genius's of course.**

**Friday June 11th Week Minus 1**

"Harry, in here!" Leo's voiced called across the office.

"I thought I asked you to find out what was up with Nikki?" Leo asked crossly.

"Well?"

"I'm not sure." Harry mumbled. "She's not always easy to talk to, and she's not been carrying any placards saying 'I'm really depressed' so..." Harry trailed off.

"Harry!" Leo scolded.

"Did you know she fell asleep at her desk yesterday, whilst you were in doing the post mortem on the overdosed student?"

"She's been through a lot Leo. She's here isn't she?"

"Not for much longer if this continues, she's a lawsuit waiting to happen. And I know you've been doing her paperwork, I'm not stupid Harry."

"No, Leo of course you're not." Harry was trying, but failing to sound contrite.

"I do have one possible avenue to explore, but I'll need to go out, and I can assure you she won't like it." Harry ventured.

"Whatever, I don't care. Just get her back. Please." Leo pleaded.

"What's this?" Nikki asked, with more vivacity than Harry had seen for weeks.

"Erm, just something I thought you should have." Harry said non committally. It had seemed like a good idea earlier, but now the moment was here, he wished he'd stopped off for a Kevlar jacket.

On her desk was a white paper bag.

"Ooh, it rattles," she said giving the bag a shake and tipping the contents onto her desk.

Harry heard a gasp and then

"Harry, is this some kind of sick joke, what on earth has got into you?"

Lying on the desk between them was a large bottle of folic acid tablets and a pregnancy testing kit.

'Damn', he should have thought of what to say, whilst he was out buying the stuff.

"Nikki, I'm worried about you, Leo's worried about you, everyone's worried about you. You've not been yourself for a while, I know the circumstances of the break up were difficult.." Harry trailed off and dared to look across at her. She had her best fighting face on, the one usually reserved for police officers she took a dislike to, and him on one or two hideous occasions when they were fighting. So he went into work mode for self preservation and started rattling off evidence as if he was performing an autopsy, he got up from his desk and paced up and down.

"The individual in question is in her mid thirties, was in a full time relationship and was known to be on antibiotics. There is anecdotal evidence that she had sex during this time and that it was at the most fertile time of her cycle." Harry didn't dare look up, if he had he would have seen her eyes, wide as saucers taking in the information. He carried on,

"Since that time, approximately one month ago the individual has at times complained of headaches and extreme fatigue. She has shown evidence of an aversion to strong smells, previously enjoyed, an increased need for urination and has experienced dizzy spells. There is evidence from an external source confirming that the individual has vomited at least once during this time. No evidence has yet been collected as to whether any more personal matters have or have not occurred within the last month."

He sat down quickly ready to take cover from whatever she could find to throw at him. It was a large bottle of folic acid and there was a good chance it could do some damage, if she went for a head shot.

But Nikki didn't need to throw things, she was well skilled at shooting him down verbally.

"Let's review the evidence shall we," she began, and now it was her time to take to the floor. They'd done this a thousand times before, pick through the evidence of the case from their different view points. Harry silently congratulated himself for putting it into a work context. At least there was some neutral territory between them.

"The antibiotic evidence is only of use if the individual was using the pill as her only form of contraception." Nikki began,

'and were you?' Harry thought, but didn't dare interrupt.

"I really don't want to know how you know the next two pieces of information, but yes it is true sexual intercourse did occur in the same week." Nikki recalled grimly how awful she had been feeling, but was so surprised and pleased to see Henry that she didn't really think she could refuse him, had they used other protection? She always insisted, but she'd felt so ill, she really couldn't remember, but there was no way she was sharing that information with Harry.

"And so on to the symptoms experienced. Fatigue and headaches are often associated with traumatic personal events. Insomnia during the night makes the fatigue during the day worse. Coupled with depression, and a decreased appetite dizzy spells would be common if the individual were not eating properly. The problem with strong smells would also arise as a direct result of the fatigue where the body suddenly loses it's ability to tolerate extreme stimuli, noise, light smells etc.

It would be surprising if the individual had in fact only vomited once over the last month after discovering her lying, cheating ex-boyfriend had been married the whole time. This information making her sick to the stomach on a daily basis.

And I can't believe Harry that you have never needed to pee half way through an autopsy, it's human. As for the evidence you have yet to acquire, I can't remember when exactly it was, but yes I have definitely experienced some bleeding in the last month so you can take your test and vitamins straight back to where you got them."

"Implantation bleeding." murmured Harry.

"What!" Nikki asked. She had fought a good fight but there was a tiny part of her brain that could follow Harry's chain of evidence and draw the same conclusion as he had.

"Do you think I'm pregnant?" she asked him outright.

"I don't know, Nikki. You could be right, everything can be explained by depression and insomnia but that's why I bought you the test. It's the one way to find out. It's top of the range too, you don't have to wait until the morning, you could do it right now," Harry spoke as gently as possible. She seemed to be taking this very well.

Behind Nikki, Harry could make out Leo gesticulating wildly at his office window. Although rubbish at sign language Leo was obviously conveying a message that went along the lines of 'well done Harry, she's not thrown anything at you yet and neither of you have started shouting.'

"Well, I'm not taking it" she said petulantly. "Not until I can deal with the answer anyway." And with that she slammed the boxes down onto the table. Leo turned his thumbs up, happy face to a thumbs down, sad face. Harry shook his head at Leo, he wouldn't be able to concentrate with Leo watching and fortunately Leo got the hint and backed off.

Harry was on dangerous turf here. The last time he offered a girl advice on an assumed pregnancy it caused the end of the relationship. He was damned if he was going to make the same mistake twice.

"Would it be a problem if you were?" Harry asked carefully. "I know your career is important to you, but you wouldn't have to give everything up, lots of people combine work and home."

"I'd be a single mother, with no other family to support me, relying on overpriced daycare and hardly enough money left at the end of the month to cover the bills," she said emphatically.

"Are you sure you haven't thought about this before?" He asked with his teasing face on and then quietly continued.

"I'd help you, if you'd let me." He looked up to see where this little speech had got him. Nikki was watching him intently so he took a deep breath and continued.

"I'd love to help you, I could be the best Uncle Harry in the world. I could take the baby out sometimes, give you some space, you know share things a bit. I could buy them the latest trainers or whatever they needed and I wouldn't have to be watching over my shoulder every day waiting for the poor child to succumb to inheriting my evil temper, or dreadful hair. And no one else would even need know the child wasn't mine. It was Janet that said Henry and I looked as if we could be related." Harry realised he was rambling now and had probably said too much already. A quick look at Nikki confirmed his suspicions. 'Shit' he thought why did he always mess things up?

"Earth to Harry" Nikki said spitefully.

"I don't know where these child fantasies have suddenly come from, but how dare you think you can organise my life! I know I've been a bit down lately but I've been depressed. I don't need your pity, or your help or you mothering me. I am certainly not going to keep a child if there is one, which I'm sure there's not, just to pander to you or your mother's desire to have grandchildren. Now leave me alone!" The speech was delivered through clenched teeth and fortunately at a volume that the rest of the office didn't get to hear. But as he made his way towards the door Harry noticed Leo shake his head sadly at him. Great, so now Leo thought he was a complete screw up too. What a week.

**Saturday morning June 12****th**** Week Minus 1**

Hangover? Dreadful

Bed?..Empty

Work? He'd have to do some paperwork later but no trips into the office.

Run? It would have to be later, when the pounding in his head had stopped and he could replace it with pounding feet blotting out all thoughts from his mind.

Mood? Livid. Why had he said all that stuff about children?

What was he thinking? When he was sure that she had left for the day, he went back to the desk to pack up his laptop. He had noticed though that there was no sign of the boxes on her desk, or his, or in the bin. But he had blown his chance of ever even talking about it with her again. He cursed himself and fumbled for the painkillers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Friday Night June 18th**

In some ways this week had been Harry's easiest work wise for ages. Nikki had called Leo at the weekend saying she was taking some 'personal time' and hadn't been in all week. Harry was doing all the work again, but at least with her gone, he didn't have to sneak about pretending not to be doing it.

He couldn't help wondering what the 'personal' time was involving and shuddered at the thought of it including any medical procedures. Thinking about it, he had surprised himself really, he had never really thought about having his own children. Not until being thrown in at the deep end of family life, the last time he was in Africa. And then from time to time he would indulge himself and wonder what any children of his would be like. His nightmare scenario was of course a mixture of his temper and her knack for finding trouble. Or her cast iron stubbornness and his social ineptitude but not every combination was that bad. Maybe that's why he had jumped at the idea of raising Henry's child, the fear that if it were part of him, it would all go wrong.

Perhaps his mother's nagging was getting to him after all. He was due for dinner again and smiled ruefully at the memory of the two of them racing round the desks and being happy, the last time he was due there.

"Hello darling, you look exhausted." his mother said.

"Yes, we've had a lot on and Nikki's been away all week." Harry answered.

"She's not been ill again has she? It wouldn't surprise me, after all she's been through. That girl does seem to have bad luck. I'm sorry I was right Harry."

"That's o.k. Mum, it's not your fault." Harry poured some wine and sat staring into it.

"There's still something else though isn't there," his mother continued.

Was he lisping again? Or did one's desire for grandchildren also come with mind reading abilities?

"We had a disagreement before she left." Harry hoped that would be enough.

"About what?" his mother asked. 'Surely' she thought 'even Harry wouldn't be dull enough to have made a move straight way?'

"Does it matter, Mum?" Harry asked.

"Well, you've obviously said or done something stupid, or you wouldn't have that expression of regret plastered all over your face!" she retorted.

"So you really want to know do you." He was tired but he could feel the anger rising. Why did his mother have this affect on him? He started pacing and between trying not to clench his fists, or remind her of his father or even lisp too much he managed to spew out. "I suspected Nikki was/is pregnant, I presented her with the evidence and a pregnancy test kit. I made only positive statements about her being a mother, and offered to help her if she wanted me to. And she took it very badly and now she's gone. Are you happy now? Or is there any other office gossip you really need to know?" Harry stopped pacing and calmed down slightly. His mother hadn't replied.

"I'm sorry Mum, I didn't mean to shout. Like you say I'm exhausted." Harry said and plopped down into his chair.

His mother sat down opposite and looked him straight in the eye.

"When you were offering to raise this baby, Harry." She paused and then continued very slowly and deliberately.

"Did you perhaps make it sound like a sensible business arrangement or did you tell her that you were head over heels in love with her and had been for years and you would do anything to be together with her, baby or not" She held his gaze. He was every inch a Cunningham and it broke her heart that although he had got his father's brilliant mind, it seemed to go hand in hand with a complete absence of romance.

There was a long pause.

"Oh mum, why do I always mess everything up?" he mumbled despondently.

"I'm sorry darling, I'm sure you'll think of a way to fix it. Just don't expect me to leave any of my money to any children you and she might raise, without them taking a paternity test first." she said.

"Mum!" Harry spluttered.

"Come on, eat, it doesn't look like you've had a decent meal since you were here last time."

**Saturday Morning, June 19th **

Hangover? None

Bed? Empty

Work? None that he was going to do

Run? Maybe

Mood? Uneasy.


	14. Chapter 14

**Friday June 25th BNTN**

Nikki had taken another week off. She had told Leo she was staying with a girlfriend. Harry remembered Leo being very particular about that as he had passed the message on.

How he missed her! He even wished she were around to give him a tongue lashing about his choice of jumper or scrubs or anything. Anything was better than this silence. She had told him once that the only thing she feared was 'him not talking to her.' Well now it was his turn to be on the receiving end.

He left work promptly and without consciously realising it, drove over to her flat. He rang the land line from his mobile to make sure she wasn't home and then let himself in with the spare key, he still had. He wasn't quite sure why he was there. Was he such a sad old git that snooping about in her flat would reduce the pain that her absence was causing. Or was he hoping to find something. Evidence of doctors appointments, or perhaps a discarded pregnancy test.

What he did find was an atrocious mess. He thought at first she had been burgled, but then closer inspection led him to the conclusion that no house work had been done for weeks. She couldn't come back to this mess and with that he started work. He put the bedclothes in the washing machine and started on the washing up. Well he thought, it made a change from bringing her chocolate or coffee.

**Saturday Morning June 26th **

Hangover? None, he'd spent 3 hours working on her flat and collapsed into bed on his return home.

Bed? Empty and probably in need of a wash too.

Work? He needed something to keep his mind occupied, he hoped the Saturday killer Sudoku would live up to it's name.

Run? He'd had more exercise cleaning Nikki's flat than any run would give him, so that could pass.

Mood? Resigned he would just have to wait for her to come back. He hadn't found out anything from tidying her stuff except that remarkably for someone living on her own, she possessed 28 different mugs.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the long wait, had to learn the Thriller Dance or the Zombie bits anyway to teach my Year 6's today...**

**Friday, July 2****nd**

Nikki was back.

For most of the week they had worked alongside each other, but not together. Leo had been very careful to allocate the work so that they rarely had to be in the same room as each other, but allowed them to choose to be together as they wanted. On Monday Harry hardly saw her at all, but as the days went by their closeness began to return.

She looked better than she had done in weeks, Harry noted. Her serene calmness had returned and even though they were hardly talking, her presence was gradually melting his fear that she would never ever be his friend again. He tried not to stare. There were no external signs to see, no bulges, no extra fullness around the bust and Harry prided himself on being certain that if there were, he would have noticed it. They would have to talk about it eventually, but that could wait for them to re-establish their working relationship first.

On Tuesday she smiled at one of his jokes, on Wednesday she had punched him on the arm, as they fought over who could get to the filing cabinet first. And on Thursday she managed to have a good natured disagreement with him over the ethics of accepting freebies from drug companies in exchange for pedalling their products.

Today was Friday and she seemed more withdrawn than she had all week. Harry worried that perhaps she had come back to work too soon, and that the stress was getting to her.

"Are you o.k.?" he asked, as he found her sat at her desk, staring at her laptop without actually looking at it.

"Hmm, oh Harry, yes I'm fine." came the automaton response.

"Nikki!" Harry said in his warning tone, "I'm sure Leo wouldn't mind if you wanted to leave early."

He added more gently.

"No, it's not that Harry." she said. And he was sure he noticed her eyes tearing up.

"We should ..we should really talk, Harry." Nikki stammered.

Harry was quiet, he knew it was coming but was she ready, was he ready?

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked.

"Yes." she was wearing her stubborn face, but he could tell there were cracks in her resolve.

"When I was away," she said quietly, "I stayed with a friend near the beach it was so beautiful, would you come to the seaside with me tomorrow?" she asked.

"Of course, I would lo.." Harry stopped himself and then continued, "it would be great to go to the beach with you, I'll pick you up. About 10:30, sound alright?"

"Great, thanks Harry, I'll see you tomorrow." And for once she took his advice and left early.


	16. Chapter 16

**For Lilypad 1, who is the sweetest thing and has been getting a bit stressed. : )**

**Sorry everyone, after so many lovely reviews, I have rewritten and rewritten the end and now you have two of the longest chapters in the history of fanfic... I hope it takes you or them to where they need to go.**

**Saturday July 3rd**

Harry hadn't slept well, it was important not to mess things up today. He decided on route to Nikki's flat that probably the safest policy was not to say anything, except in answer to her questions, and to certainly not start rambling and above all else for once try to tell the truth. He wouldn't press her on any of the previous weeks events until she were ready. Well that was his plan. The weather was bright and sunny but not scorching hot. Not as hot anyway as the little sundress that Nikki had put on. He caught a glimpse of her in his rearview mirror as she crossed the car park to his car. He sucked air through his teeth and told himself this was going to be a long day.

The morning had gone remarkably well, they had chatted easily about the view, and the difficulty and cost about finding a parking space in Brighton and a million other topics. As long as they talked on insignificant topics the ease between them was there. But it was only a matter of time, the air between them was pregnant with the conversation that had to inevitably come.

Harry had to entice her on to the pier, succeeding finally by offering to buy her fish and chips. The seagulls were performing their usual acrobatics and catching chips mid-flight. They stood together looking over the railings, watching the people on the beach below and listening to the waves as they crashed onto the pebbles and then made that exquisite sucking, rattling noise as they rolled back into the sea.

"I'm really sorry, Harry." Nikki began.

This was not the start that Harry was expecting and couldn't quite fathom what she was sorry about. His plan had been to answer her questions so figured the most prudent response was to apologise too.

"I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have said all that stuff, I don't know what I was thinking."

'Damn, rambling already' he said to himself and promptly shut up.

"You're not the one that needs to apologise Harry, you've been looking out for me and I've just been too selfish and self-absorbed.."

Harry quickly interrupted her "Nikki, you've been through a lot, you've always been there for me, I was just trying to help."

"Will you just stop for once and let me finish. I invited you here today, because I thought we needed to talk, I needed to talk, now are you going to let me?" she was beginning to sound exasperated and they hadn't even begun.

"You just said WE needed to talk, I have to be allowed to talk sometimes," he said and sneaked a sideways glance at her.

"Alright then," she challenged. "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean, you invited me out, and I said yes." that hadn't come out right, that made it sound like a date. If only he had a clue as to what she was talking about he felt he might be on more solid ground.

"I mean why are you here, with me?" she asked again.

"You just said it Nikki, we needed to talk, you've been through so much, you've been away for two weeks. I thought you wanted to come here to talk? Harry was beyond confused.

He looked at her, head cocked to the left, studying her face searching for what she wanted from him. The sundress left most of her neck and shoulders exposed and standing this close surrounded by her bare flesh was not helping his brain to work quickly at all.

"Why are you here?" she asked for the third time. "Why haven't you left me? Or lied to me? Or cheated on me? Or abandoned me? Or died and left me?" she was staring straight at the horizon as she asked the string of questions.

Harry inhaled sharply. So THAT was the question she was asking. He quickly followed her gaze out to sea. And then very slowly as if tasting every word he said,

"Are you asking me if I'm in love with you?" He didn't dare to look away from the tossing sea, it seemed to be keeping time with the racing of his heart.

"Is it a problem if I am?" she replied, echoing a previous conversation.

"Just as long as you're prepared to deal with the answer." Harry followed suit, using her words from that dreadful conversation.

"I'm not sure I need you to answer." she said. "You are my best friend, you can make me smile, you can make me play stupid games, you are always there when I need you, you go to awful sports bars that you hate, just because I ask you too, you care for me when I'm sick. You bring me flowers and get rewarded with overhearing..well never mind I figured it out. You make no mention of my mistakes. You cover for me at work, you take my on call weekends and I'm pretty sure you cleaned up my flat. Is it true?" she asked incredulously.

"What that I cleaned your flat, (which was disgusting by the way) or that I'm in love with you?" the second time he used the words they seemed to roll off the tongue more easily.

"Yes, Nikki," now that the time was here Harry found he almost sounded matter of fact. "I am very much in love with you, and have been for as long as I can remember and I have absolutely no intention of lying to you, cheating on you, abandoning you or dying, well not just yet anyway.

And then he added quickly, "the just yet only applied to the dying bit." He was however dying to look into her face to see how this revelation was going down, but she kept her eyes fixed on a point in the distance. It was customary to make some comment Harry thought, after disclosures like this but Nikki was silent. Had he got it so wrong? She had said he was her friend. Was that all she wanted?

But Nikki was somewhere else entirely.

"There is no baby." she said quietly.

"Oh, Nikki, I'm sorry."

'Was that the right thing to say?' he didn't know really how she had felt about that either, or if she had taken steps to make sure there was no baby. He was saved from trying to think of the right thing to say as she carried on.

"I never took the test. By the time I had finally plucked up the courage to think about taking it I had already started bleeding."

"But you know what you felt Nikki, is that why it was so hard to take the test?" Harry asked.

Maybe I was pregnant, maybe I wasn't, I will never know for sure. But I'm glad I don't have some stick mocking me with the evidence that someone else I could have loved didn't even live long enough to meet me." her voice began to break as she got to the end of her speech. Harry could cope no longer just standing by her side and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't stop himself from kissing her hair and telling her he was sorry all over again.

Harry felt Nikki's body begin to relax from the sobs that had racked it, and then heard her ask,

"Harry? Can I ask you another question?"

Could you reply to some of mine, his brain screamed but he'd already confessed to being in love with her , with no reply, how bad could it get?"

"Of course," he replied.

"Why was Henry so convinced that you were gay?" she looked up into his eyes.

"Now I never told him that!" Harry said in a mock shocked tone, but he elaborated.

"It was that night at the sports bar. Henry asked me why we had never got together, and I agreed with him that you were very beautiful and that I didn't want to jeopardise our friendship."

"I bet those are not the exact words you used," she smiled "is it still true?" she questioned.

"Well yes, you are still very beautiful." Harry said seriously, causing a blush to spread across Nikki's face.

"And I am terrified of jeopardising our friendship, these last few weeks without you have shown me just how much I need you in my life. I thought I had already blown it, but although I am terrified, I am more terrified of the fact that if I don't do anything now I will lose you to somebody else."

Harry was breathing heavily, he was sweating more now than after some of his longest runs.

"One more request?" Nikki pleaded.

"Alright," he said shakily.

"One more." he spoke as if speaking to a small child asking for sweets.

"Kiss me." she said simply.

"What?" Harry asked. He had been mentally preparing himself for Nikki to do the 'you're my friend Harry, but I just can't cope with any thing more at the moment' speech.

"That was the request." Nikki repeated. "Come on, I know you know how,"

"Really?" Harry asked, looking deep into her eyes, his face inches from hers in a pose they'd been in so many times before.

"Yes, Harry I would very much like you to kiss me, here now..." she didn't get to finish this time, now certain, he pressed his lips to hers and held her tight.

The kiss was gentle but passionate, hesitant but with the promise of more, thrilling but comfortably familiar. She hadn't verbalised any of her feelings for him, despite his open confessions of love for her. But as he looked into her eyes again after kissing her, he hoped it would only be a matter of time.

Emboldened by all that had gone before he said,

"Can I ask a question now?"

"Hmm," she said, licking her lips and appearing rather distracted.

"You don't have to decide now, but I want to ask you now, so that there is no confusion about my intentions." Harry stated carefully.

"Did you have to spend a lot of time with the lawyers, while I was away Harry?" Nikki asked.

"Will you shut up and listen! You are more special to me than anyone in the whole world. I know you have been let down in the past by some of your other boyfriends"

"More like all of them" interjected Nikki.

"That's why I don't want to be your boyfriend Nikki." Harry added.

"Oh." Nikki looked as if her world had just been torn apart. Her eyes immediately began to well up as she searched Harry's face for clues as to how he could be so cruel to her, minutes after he told her he loved her, and he'd kissed her, and like that... She hated men.

"Nikki look at me." Harry said sternly. He wiped away a tear that was forming with his thumb.

"Nikki, I don't want to be your boyfriend, because I want to be your husband." he finished.

Now it was Nikki's turn to be speechless.

"You're asking me to marry you?" she stammered. "And we've only ever kissed twice!"

"Three times," Harry corrected her.

"Three?" she asked.

"Three," he repeated.

"So it wasn't a dream," Nikki whispered.

" 'Fraid not," he whispered back.

"Oh, Harry, I am so sorry, I've been.." but Nikki was interrupted.

"I'm not sorry at all. I would never have been able to say what I've said today, if I wasn't certain that somewhere deep inside you, that you cared for me too. You know three is my lucky number," he added with a trademark smile.

But Nikki wasn't concentrating on what Harry was saying, her mind was reeling from the previous proposal.

"But what if the sex is awful?" Nikki asked.

Harry laughed heartily, "well, we shall just have to practise!" he said with a sly wink. "Like I said, you don't have to answer now, but you need to know how serious I am about this." He put his arm round her and kissed the top of her head. They walked together, with Harry's arm still around her shoulder, back along the pier and down onto the beach.

"But what if the children have your, what was it, 'dreadful temper and evil hair'" she said playfully as they walked along by the waters edge.

"I think it was my evil temper and dreadful hair actually, but what about your inability to follow a film plot and my knack of saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time." he laughed.

"Or your looks and my pig headed stubbornness!"she giggled.

"How about your looks, and my charming personality!" Harry tried.

"Don't flatter yourself! Try your ability to piss people off and my tendency for misappropriating things" Nikki suggested.

"Aha, finally she admits to stealing my desk!" Harry sounded triumphant.

At that moment, they saw a family struggling to carry a buggy over the stones with a toddler clinging on behind. The little boy raced off down to the sea, closely followed by his mum and dad, leaving the buggy on the stones. Instead of the boy's baby brother or sister, the occupant of the buggy turned out to be an older sister, she was staring blankly, rocking slightly and chewing repeatedly on her fingers.

"Could be Rett Syndrome?" mumbled Harry, his doctor brain taking over.

Just then the girl's father returned with a bucket of water. He wriggled the girl's feet out of her sandals and splashed them in the water. For a moment the girls face lit up with a huge smile for her father and for the feel of the cold water. And then just as suddenly she slipped back into her own world.

"And if things didn't quite go to plan?" Nikki couldn't help but ask.

"I would be devastated." Harry answered honestly. "But they would still be ours and anything that we have together would have to be beautiful, because it is part of you."

Nikki slipped her hand into Harry's. They walked together in silence. Harry was still not sure how solid the ground was between them. She hadn't really talked about her feelings at all. She hadn't said 'no.' She hadn't run away screaming and she had joined in the little game about what traits the children could inherit. Suddenly the shelf of shingle he was walking along began to tumble towards the sea and he found himself sliding down the stones. He hoped it wasn't indicative of how the carefully reconstructed ground between the two of them could crumble without warning.

**Rett Syndrome affects 1 in 10,000 to 15,000 live female births. It was first described in 1966 by the Austrian doctor, Andreas Rett. Genetic but not hereditary, it could occur in any family at any time. People with Rett syndrome have profound and multiple physical and learning disabilities and are totally reliant on others for support throughout their lives. It is the most common genetic cause of severe disability in females. A large proportion of people with Rett syndrome have a mutation, or fault, on the MECP2 gene on the X chromosome.**

**Information from RettSocietyUK**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sunday, July 4th Independence Day U.S.A.**

Hangover? None

Bed? Gloriously full

Work? You've got to be kidding

Run? Far more important things to do

Mood? Deliriously happy but slightly nervous

* * *

**By all rights I'm sure the story should end here, but I fear an outcry, read on if you dare, but I take no responsibility if you can't manage the cheese. : )**

"What are you thinking about?" Nikki asked "You look very serious."

"Just a weekend P.M. But never mind." he mumbled

"P.M?" she said curiously and then,

"Yes." It didn't seem to be a question or referring to anything in particular.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"Yes." she stated emphatically and suddenly Harry grasped what she was saying yes to.

"I was **that** good!" he said dramatically, raising his upper body on his elbow and looking down on her.

"Harry!" she laughed and quickly swung her pillow into his face. He fell back rubbing his face but Nikki knew that the watering in his eyes had more to do with her answer than her flicking a pillow in his face.

He quickly upgraded his mood rating to ecstatic and leaned over to kiss her again.

"Hmm," he mumbled "I will never ever get tired of kissing you... but I need coffee." He grabbed his boxers and made for the kitchen.

There were a couple of mugs on the counter and coffee all over the floor. He smiled as he remembered the previous evening. He had been driving home, there had been an easy silence between them, he thought at one point she had even dozed off, and then from nowhere he heard.

"Let's go to your place Harry, I fancy some coffee."

He had complied with her wish, well the first part. Events rather overtook them, which is why he had half a packet of coffee all over his kitchen floor. He heard her come into the kitchen as he was on his hands and knees with the dust pan and brush.

"Down on one knee already?" she joked. He looked up and noticed she was wearing one of his shirts and gave an inner mental sigh. 'Nothing, nothing would be his own property ever again, so much for independence day, but then independence was way over rated' he thought. ' Especially when she looked that hot wearing it.'

"I think there's another packet of coffee on the top shelf of the cupboard behind you." he said.

Harry made sure to stay down on the floor pretending to sweep, but really only to enjoy the view as she turned round and reached up to the top shelf. Things were going to be fine, he assured himself, safe in the knowledge that she may not have told him she loved him but she had not replaced her underwear. She gave the coffee packet a tug but dislodged something else as she moved it, which dropped onto the counter in front of her.

Harry's eyes were out on stalks and his heart was racing as he realised what else he had shoved in that cupboard when he didn't know what to do with it. It was his grandmother's ring. What was she going to think? They hadn't even been on speaking terms the day before yesterday. An engagement ring is not something you buy without reason, because it might come in handy one day. You only had one, if you had cause to need one and it was patently obvious it could not have been bought for her.

Meanwhile Nikki had of course lifted the lid of the box and gasped in surprise and then gone through all the same thought processes he had just imagined.

"Harry?" she stuttered.

'Answer the question, no rambling and tell the truth,' he mentally counselled himself, thinking back to his plans of yesterday. It hadn't worked too badly then.

"Oh, I'd forgotten I'd put that in there," he said trying to sound blase. "I'm not sure why my mother gave it to me, it belonged to my grandmother and she had wanted one of her granddaughters to have it but.." 'you're rambling Harry, stop it' he tailed off.

Nikki had peeked in the box by this time.

"It's beautiful, Harry." she said.

Harry took it out of the box and spun it round.

"Look," he said, "it's all worn down at the back, it's old, I'm sure it's not even that valuable."

Nikki was still staring at the ring.

"Nikki," Harry ventured. "If you would like a ring, I promise I will buy you the most beautiful ring you can find, whatever you want, you deserve..." he stopped. A quick look at Nikki confirmed his suspicions. She had that face on. The one he couldn't describe. The face that was not unlike the look on an animals face when it's in pain, and it just can't understand why, or perhaps a small child being taken for a vaccination.

He took her hand in his and spoke very softly,

"Your grandmother's necklace. You never got it back did you, after it was stolen in Africa?"

"No," she said quietly.

"This old ring would mean much more to you, than some gaudy monstrosity on sale now, wouldn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yes," she said simply.

"You realise, you're volunteering of your own free will, to join yourself to a complicated, flawed, interfering family with more skeletons in the closet than the Lyell Centre.

"I do," she said and Harry's stomach lurched at her choice of words.

"Nikki Alexander," he said descending to his knees for the second time that morning. "Would you make me the happiest man on the planet, and say that you will marry me. And wear this beautiful old ring as a sign of our love and as a symbol of being part of a family with me?"

"Yes, yes and yes." she replied.

"Three yes's?" he asked.

"Yes, I will marry you, yes I will wear your ring, and yes I will be part of your family."

"You do realise that most of them are certifiably crazy." he giggled.

"Are you including yourself in that list?" Nikki questioned.

"Yes, I am." he pronounced.

"Yes, yes and yes." she replied again. "I heard that three was your lucky number."

"It is when you're around," he said pulling her into a passionate kiss, "shall we go and find out for sure?" he added, eyebrow raised and head cocked towards the bedroom.

"Where's my coffee?" she demanded.

"Oh, yes coffee," He hurriedly grabbed a mug, stuck it under the cold tap and offered her the mug of cold water.

"Come on then drink, if you're so thirsty." he was trying to hurry her up, pointing his head very obviously in the direction of the bedroom, and raising his eyebrows.

Nikki giggled, choked and spat and sprayed water all over Harry. With that, the giggle became a laugh and the laugh became a belly laugh and suddenly all the terrible things that had happened in the previous months began to melt away to the sound of their laughter. Soon they were both laughing as they had done that night when they had run around and around the office.

Harry set off first, round the kitchen table.

"Happiness is being able to tell you the truth." he said.

"Happiness is being part of a real family again." Nikki tried.

"Happiness is knowing you haven't got any underwear on." Harry chuckled.

"Happiness is finding your best friend is actually your lover." Nikki said sincerely.

"Happiness is being able to kiss you whenever I want." Harry said licking his lips hungrily.

"Happiness is being able to say 'I love you.'"

Nikki stopped running and stared at Harry. She clapped a hand over her mouth in total shock. She thought briefly of all of her other men, and how none of them had ever heard those words from her. If she were being honest with herself, she had surprised herself being able to say them to Harry.

"It's true, I do love you Harry." she repeated.

Harry too was frozen in place, he might not be a romantic but he was smart enough to know that this was a very big deal. He let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and then swooped around the table and caught her in his arms. This time there was no hesitation in the kiss, all his lingering doubts were gone. She was his.

"Don't ever leave me." she pleaded.

"Never, never and never." said Harry planting a kiss on each cheek and her forehead to emphasise each word.

"You must promise me that you will remember that." he said, lifting her hand that was now wearing the ring and kissing it three times.

"Never, never, never." he repeated.

"I promise," she dutifully replied.

"See," he said matter of factly.

"I can't break the promise, it's the rule of three, and three as you know, is definitely my lucky number."

"Does that mean it's my lucky number too." she asked in a come on voice that Harry had never heard before, but one he definitely wanted to hear more of.

"Let's go and find out, shall we?" Harry said, abandoning the kitchen and leaving the unopened packet of coffee on the side.

**The characters Harry, Nikki, Leo, Charley etc. all belong to the BBC I'm just borrowing them. A couple of cameos are mine. Thanks again to x-MJ-x for giving me the idea of a suitable boyfriend. And Lydia Bower's Red Letter Days, an X files fanfic I read over a decade ago. Didn't remember the story but did recall the BNTN style record keeping. The fic is 'out there' but is in an explicit category so don't say I didn't warn you. I'm sure I 'nicked' a couple of lines from Jane Austen, but think it unlikely she'll sue me. Thanks to you all for reading, and reviewing and I'm very happy that I have made many of you have a chuckle and lastly congratulations to Emilia Fox, hoping all goes well for her with the pregnancy. Hopefully the writers' will think of something creative and not have her stuck behind a desk/gurney/steering wheel for a year.**


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